Partnerships With Aust Business Stronger:PM
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says our partnerships with the Australian Government and Australian businesses are stronger today than they have ever been.
He adds this is on the back of his Government’s strategic push to re-engage and redefine our bilateral relationship.
Mr Bainimarama made the remarks when he opened the Fiji Consulate General and Trade Commission Office in Sydney, on Friday
He said: “We’re leaving old disagreements in the past, where they belong, and we’re writing a new chapter in our partnership –– putting Fiji and Australia in a position to take our cooperation to historic heights, particularly when it comes to opening up new and greater flows of trade and investment.”
He said he had long said that the single greatest driver of our resurgent relationship had been the friendship and affinity shared between the Australian and Fijian people, a friendship that stretched back to the very start of our independent history and long before.
He said in recent history, he was honoured to call former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull his friend.
Bilateral partnership
He said he looked forward to forming a close relationship with the new Prime Minister Scott Morrison to continue to strengthen our bilateral partnership on the basis of fairness and mutual respect.
“In 2016, I led the first high-level Fijian Government mission to Australia, solely dedicated to growing trade and investment between our countries.
“We also established this office as a Trade Commission, as well as a Consulate, in line with the economic focus of our diplomatic engagement,” he said.
“And today’s opening is only the latest milestone in our journey to deepen the ties that link our economies, for the benefit of even more of our people.
“So far, our journey forward has already led us to record flows of tourism, trade and investment between our countries.
“Fiji remains a favoured destination for Aussie tourists, with tourism earnings from the Australian market achieving a historic high last year of nearly $1 billion Fijian.
“Our two-way trade is steadily on the rise, as the Fijian economy has soared to a record nine straight years of economic growth, and confidence in Fiji is sky-high, as seen in the nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of Australian investment into our country last year.
“I am especially proud that our two-way trade, now at around $1.12 billion a year, has been driven by a four per cent increase in Fijian exports to the Australian market, as new Fijian products and businesses are expanding their reach throughout the region.
“And, really, I think we’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to realising the potential of marketing Fijian-made goods in Australia.
“We have some very ambitious Fijians, at every age, putting forward ideas and launching more businesses every year, and it is the duty of this office to give those entrepreneurs the confidence and the opportunity to get their products on shelves here in lucrative markets Sydney and all across Australia.”
Feedback: maraia.vula@fijisun.com.fj